Ultra low power audio codecs with DSP help solve audio solution challenges


Portable consumer electronics manufacturers are currently facing the daunting challenge of developing low cost, high performance, feature rich and long battery life audio solutions. At the same time, manufacturers are forced to shorten development time to lead the way in new products. With the recent introduction of ultra-low power codecs with embedded mini DSPs and powerful graphics programming tools, manufacturers are now able to meet these complex requirements.

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With ultra-low power and DSP processing power, these devices provide low-power audio solutions for systems that require separate codecs and systems that use baseband processors or application processor chips with analog I/O. Its graphical programming environment and rich software libraries make application development time a fraction of the time required for traditional programming environments.

In terms of low-power operation, these next-generation ultra-low-power codecs enable analog and digital cores to operate from a single 1.5V to 1.8V supply. By reducing the operating voltage of the digital core to 1.26V, it is possible to further reduce power consumption. Many devices have a low power mode of operation. However, the new power adjustment feature allows the designer to adjust the device power based on the various configuration and processing conditions used in the recording and playback path. Designers can dynamically optimize power based on input channel count, output drive requirements, sample rate, desired input-to-output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance, and processing power used to minimize power consumption.

This way you can flexibly adjust the codec power consumption for different audio reproduction modes (key tones, message tones, voice communication and music reproduction), different I/O configurations (handset or headphone operation) and different signals Processing requirements (low noise or noisy communication environments) provide the best performance, as shown in Figure 1. The power adjustment control also allows for additional configuration such as analog bypass operation mode configured for less conversion, PLL or PLL-less mode of operation, Class D or Class AB headphone drive mode. These configuration controls are managed via the I2C or SPI bus.

The power adjustment feature significantly extends the battery life of portable audio devices. The low-power mode of operation allows the ultra-low-power codec with signal processing to consume less than 5mW in processing key/messages, less than 7mW in 8kHz or 16kHz voice communications, and 44.1kHz in highest quality. Stereo headphones are less than 10mW when reproduced.

Integrating ultra-low power data conversion and low-power signal processing in a single chip can significantly save power in traditional system architectures that include application processors and codecs. In these architectures, the ultra low power codec can perform some or all of the audio processing functions of the application processor.

Systems with baseband or application processor chips typically have analog input and/or output capabilities. Codecs with signal processing provide a low-cost, short development cycle solution for new features or functions without reprogramming or replacing existing baseband or application processors.

The new ultra low power codec with embedded mini DSP is one of the powerful tools for extending battery life. These devices and their powerful graphical programming tools provide low-power audio solutions for a variety of portable audio processing and communication system architectures. Power consumption can be as low as 2.4mW during stereo playback. Programming is done in a graphical software environment, which simplifies the manufacturer's programming process.

The portable consumer electronics market is highly competitive and the update speed is very fast. Fast time-to-market and extremely low-power devices help manufacturers reduce their design cycles and develop differentiated products. A very low power audio converter with embedded DSP and a fast graphical software development environment will increase the manufacturer's competitive advantage.

Figure 1: Power consumption increases with increasing SNR and voltage. Users can adjust power according to application and system requirements

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